Star Trek: Defense
by Jonathan Kirk
Summary: During the Shake down cruise of the USS Darkhawk another starship, the USS Minsk goes missing in the Alonious VII system. The Darkhawk is dispatched to investiage the sudden disapearance of the Minsk. Please feel free to post reviews.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Utopia Planitia, Mars_

Captain Jonathan Kirk sat starring out of the port side window on board the shuttle craft _Workhorse_ as it traveled from Space Station_ Explorer_ orbiting Mars to Utopia Panitia ship yards. It has been a tradition for Starfleet Captains to take one last look at Mars before boarding their ships at the ship yards. The NX-32283 _USS Darkhawk _was a marvel of Starfleet's newest ship designers and engineers at the Advanced Shipyard Design Bureau. She was a newly designed ship based on the battle proven Defiant class star ship. This variant of the Defiant's design is labeled the Picard sub-classed Defiant star ship, due to Captain Picard pushing the designers into producing a bigger version of the Defiant capable of deep space exploration with out the need to be confined to a space station.

The _Darkhawk_ is 200 meters long in total length, an increase of 60 meters from the original design. Along with the new over all length the _Darkhawk_ has two more decks making a total of six decks to the ship, giving the Captain of the ship a much needed ready room, and conference room; more affectionately known as the 'war room'. Captain Picard wanted more fire power for the ship so the _Darkhawk_ is armed with a total of six forward firing pulse cannons and two Type X Collimated Phaser Arrays, one located around the top of the ship by the bridge and one below the ship near the shuttle bay. Completing the armor meant are six total Quantum torpedo tubes, four forward firing and two rear firing.

"Don't you want to see her sir?" asked the crewman piloting the shuttle craft.

Captain Kirk was lost deep in thought and did not hear the crewman's question. Kirk's mind drift away from the shuttle craft, away from the mission he was just given by Captain Picard to join him at Deep Space 9. He did not fight his wandering mind; instead he welcomed it.

Voices. Kirk started to hear voices in his head, they started out very quietly and rose quickly to an almost ear-shattering roar. They were voices that he has tried to forget for the longest time; voices that kept coming back to him in his dreams. Kirk never flinched at the unexpected eruption of sound; the voice of the collective was all too familiar to him.

Having been assimilated into the Collective at the battle of Wolf 359, Kirk had a personal vendetta against the Borg, or at least that is what all the counselors told him when he returned to Starfleet with the Starship _Voyager_. The truth is Kirk just wanted to move on with his life and try to restore the humanity that the Borg stole from him. Starfleet had also made that hard by assigning him to shore duty for the last two years instead of another starship.

His vision flashed, and now he saw lips moving in the dark, speaking words he could not hear, speaking to somebody he could not see. His vision flashed back to the shuttle craft. Kirk had that same dream every night since his return from the Borg Collective, no matter what he did those images would not leave his mind. Upon returning to active duty with Starfleet Captain Kirk had to under go therapy to make sure he was not having any negative mental affects from his time with the Borg. He told the counselors what they wanted to hear; it was a good thing they were just humans and not Batazoids or else they would have been able to see right through Kirk's rouse.

"Sir?" The crewman called out.

Kirk was still looking out of the window and not listening to the young pilot. The young crewman extended his hand and touched Kirk on the shoulder bringing Kirk's wondering mind back from the stars to the cabin of the cramped shuttle craft.

"Sorry sir," The crewman said with a careful voice, "We have arrived at your ship."

Rubbing his face with both of his hands Kirk began to message his forehead like he was trying to rub out a headache. His left finger ran across his left eye brow touching the ocular implant attached to his brow, continuing across his temple and ending just under his left eye on his cheek bone. Kirk touched the implant again and felt the cold metal on his finger tips; each groove and bump sent a million memories racing through his mind. A chill ran through his body when he thought about the amount of lives he has taken, the amount of people who he dragged off screaming in horror or for mercy as he stuck them with his assimilation nodes sending thousands of Nano-Machines racing into their bodies. It was a horrible reminder of a part of his life he wish he could forget, but now, being permanently scared with this obvious reminder on his face, it keeps his morality and his humanity a number one priority.

"Not to worry crewman, I must have dozed off," replied Kirk getting up from his chair, "The ride was very comfortable."

With out saying another word Kirk reached down and grabbed his bags from in between himself and the crewman catching the crewman's gaze.

"Thanks for the ri..." Kirk was cut off by the horrified look on the crewman's face.

"My God..." blurted out the crewman, "I mean, sorry sir, I just..." The crewman was trying desperately to recover from his blunder.

"Never mind it crewman. It's not your fault; this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened to me," Kirk said trying to ease the tension in the small shuttle craft.

Kirk stood over the crewman and looked down on him for a second. Taking a deep breath he walked to the back of the shuttle craft and turned to face the front of the shuttle. Kirk took one last look over the shuttle to make sure he has everything he needed.

Kirk pushed on his COM Bage and it came to life with the standard Federation chime. "Kirk to Darkhawk."

"Darkhawk here Captain."

"One to transport."

"Aye sir." Responded the voice over the COM Badge.

Looking one last time in the crewman's direction Kirk noticed the pilot was now getting the shuttle on route back to the space station and was no longer paying any attention to him. Kirk felt bad for the young crewman, _he probably thought I was going to assimilate him. _Kirk thought.

"Have a safe trip back crewman." Kirk said breaking the silence in the shuttle.

"Uh...thank you sir," replied the crewman who struggled for the words and did not bother to look back at Captain Kirk.

Kirk kept his composure at the blatant disrespect the ensign was showing him. Striking his COM Badge again to open a channel with the _Darkhawk_ once more, he stated simply, "Darkhawk, Energize."

The command brought the blinding blue and white light of the Federation transporter system around Kirk and instantly transporting him from the shuttle craft to the small transporter room on board the _Darkhawk_. The _Darkhawk's_ transporter room was a great deal smaller than any other starship's transporter room. It was also darker, something that Kirk felt he would have to get used to and quickly. The transporter Chief stood no more than 10 feet away from the transporter pad which could only transport 4 people at a time. The glow of the transporter pad died down to reveal a woman standing waiting for Kirk to arrive along side the transporter chief.

"Welcome aboard Captain." The woman said with a welcoming voice and a smile.

As Kirk's eyes began adjusting to the low light levels in the transporter room, he could start to see the woman who just welcomed him aboard. She was a woman of normal height, about 5 foot 8 inches and weighting in around 120 pounds. She had long, blonde hair which was pulled back into a bun, a very uptight look for a Starfleet officer. Kirk noticed the 3 pips on the woman's collar and knew this was his first officer. All attraction he had for the woman was instantly gone with the realization of her position on the ship.

Kirk stumbled off the transporter pad still not fully used to the low light levels, he held out his hand and said, "Commander Kesloh, it is a pleasure to meet you, I am Captain Jonathan Kirk."

"It is good to meet you, Captain," She said shaking his hand, " If you follow me please."

Kirk and Commander Kesloh walked out of the transporter room and into the main corridors of the ship. Kirk took quick notice of the space dock engineers still working on consoles mounted to the walls of the corridor, he also took notice of the dim lighting through out the entire ship. Walking past a few engineers Kirk gave them a nod as they passed by; the engineers nodded back taking quick notice of his obvious Borg implants.

"Tell me Commander," Kirk said breaking the silence, "Is this ship going to remain this dark or can I turn on the lights soon?"

"As soon as the engineers leave the light levels are going to be turned up to Starfleet standards," Replied the Commander.

Kirk nodded when he heard the answer he was looking for. It was not that he had a hard time seeing in the dark it was the fact that the low light made him feel too much at home; too much like a Borg drone. He felt safe in the light, safe from the 'evil' that resides all through out his body.

"Captain we are scheduled to depart from the shipyards in one hour and start our shake down cruise to Deep Space 9 where we will be re-supplied while the rest of the crew boards the ship. From there we are to head to Deep Space 12 at maximum warp and meet the _Enterprise _along with the rest of the fleet." Informed Commander Kesloh

"Commander," Kirk said stopping in his tracks to face Commander Kesloh, "I am fully briefed on our mission, I just spoke to Captain Picard before boarding."

"I see," Kesloh said sounding on edge. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted. From now on I wish you to speak openly whenever we are in private Commander. You are my first officer and I will always want your input."

"Thanks you sir," Kesloh said catching her breath to begin her next sentence. "To be honest I do not think that Captain Picard's choice of command of this ship was wise. I do not feel a former Borg drone should be the second in command of the Borg Defensive Fleet. It just does not make sense from a security stand point."

Kirk stood where he was thinking about what to say to the Commander's rather harsh and unexpected words.

"Lets get one thing straight here,_ Commander_. I was already an established Starfleet Captain before the battle at Wolf 359, and I don't know if you've done you homework or not, but I do remember a certain Captain's face looking at me and 39 other ships straight in the eyes and telling me 'resistance was futile'. Nobody thinks Picard is not a capable commander, but everybody thinks I should remain on shore duty just because I have a few obvious Borg Implants attacked to my face! I have been hand selected by Captain Picard because of my experience and knowledge gained on those ships I was forced to serve aboard." retorted Kirk was a heavy, angry voice.

Kirk was looking straight into Commander Kesloh's eyes the entire time he was speaking. Kirks passion and fire threw Kesloh for a loop, she was expecting a Captain who had been tainted by the Borg; a nervous and unsure leader, instead she was faced with a Captain with conviction and fire. Commander Kesloh started to feel ashamed with her words towards her Captain. It was now obvious she was wrong about the man and it started to show on her face. Kirk took a long deep breath and exhaled loudly. In doing so he adjusted his shoulders and began to relax.

Putting his left hand on her Kesloh's shoulder his eyes caught hers and a mutual understanding started to form at that moment, they both could feel it.

"Thank you for your honesty, Commander. I can see why Captain Riker thought so highly of you and fought so hard to keep you aboard the_ Titan_."

"Thank you sir," Kesloh said continuing to look into Kirk's eyes.

Kirk pulled his hand off Commander Kesloh's shoulder and gave her some room so she would not feel like a cornered animal. Kirk could now see the Commander looking for something to say, but was unsure of what or how to say it. Kirk started walking and Commander Kesloh followed suit. They walked for a good ten seconds before Kirk broke the silence again.

"Would you do me a favor Commander?"

"Anything sir."

"Go to the bridge and supervise the final pre-launch preparation. I want to get myself better oriented with the ship as soon as possible. I will make my way to the bridge at 0800 hours to depart for Deep Space 9."

"Aye sir."

Kirk watched the Commander continue on with out him to the turbo lift. Kirk looked around at the now empty corridor, he knew his heated conversation with the Commander must have scared the rest of the engineers in this section to high tail it for the time being. Walking over to a wall console Kirk pushed on it and searched for his quarters.

_At least my quarters are on the same deck as the transporter room_. Kirk thought.

Kirk continued to walk towards his quarters and admired the ship and all it had to offer. It was not a Sovereign Class ship, but it was a great improvement over the Miranda Class starship he last commanded before he was assimilated. It was clear that Starfleet's ship design and engineering had improved ten fold.

_I thinkI am going to love this ship_. Kirk thought as he entered his quarters throwing his bags at the closest couch to him. They were nice quarters, nothing like he had seen on the Sovereign class vessels, and nothing like the lavish comforts that Captain Riker has aboard the _USS Titan_. Kirk pushed the privacy control on the door to lock any un-welcomed guests out as he kicked off his boots and sat down in a chair next to a window with a view of Mars.

_Welcome 'home'_, He thought looking out the window at the big red planet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Deep Space_

The _USS Minsk _is a Sabre Class starship preforming deep space scan in the Alonious VII sector of Federation space near the Federation-Romulan Neutral Zone.

Relations between the Federation-Klingon Alliance and the Romulan Star Empire had grown sour after the ending of the _Dominion War._ While the Federation and the Klingon Empire shared a more than friendly relationship with one another, almost instantly after the surrender agreement was signed on Caradssia the Romulans returned to normalcy and again became very reclusive. The newly selected Senate Members on Romulus were not open for alliances with the Federation or the Klingons. The alliance asked for Romulus to join in and completely open their boarders and help remove any hostility each empire had for each other, but the Romulans who enjoy their extreme privacy declined the offer and re-asserted their boarders.

Since the start of the _Dominion War _the Federation-Klingon boarders have been open and free to cross for either military or non military vessels, the culmination of the efforts of peace was the creation of the Unity One Starbase, a joint Federation and Klingon build. Shortly after the creation of Unity One the Tal Shiar, an elite intelligence gathering agency with in the Romulan Star Empire set out and destroyed Unity One in an effort to plunge the Federation and Klingon Empires back into war with each other. They almost achieved this by using a new style of cloaking device called a "Halo-Cloak", this cloak allows a ship to visually appear as any ship it wanted to. In the case of Unity One the Romulans attacked under the images of Klingon battle Cruisers. Unfortunately there was no evidence to support this theory at the former site of Unity One, but a shipment of experimental Federation Halo-Cloaks did come up missing.

"Sir, I am picking up strange electromagnetic readings directly in front of us." Announced the Science Officer on board the _Minsk_.

The Captain of the _Minsk_ stood up from his seat in the middle of the bridge and walked over to the science station where the young officer was clearly working hard to identify the unusual readings. The Captain looked down at the station's console and watched with the science officer as the electromagnetic spikes osculated up and down on the display screen.

"What have you got Lieutenant?" Asked the Captain who was still looking over the read outs along side the Lieutenant.

"Unknown sir, but the electromagnetic disturbance is visible."

"On screen Lieutenant." The Captain ordered walking back to his chair.

The Captain paused and held on to the left side of his chair with his right hand as the main viewer blinked from normal space to a thunderstorm of white and blue light dancing around what seemed to be a very large gray/green cloud.

"Lieutenant I want you to start an uplink with Starfleet Command, maybe their science department can help us identify this usual electromagnetic anomaly."

"Aye sir." The Lieutenant said as he started pushing on the console in front of him. The science officer typed with dizzying speed and accuracy, "Uplink started Captain, we should be in contact with Starfleet in 30 seconds." Announced the Lieutenant.

All eyes now turned towards the mysterious cloud that now filled the main viewer. Each officer on the bridge seemed to perceive the anomaly differently, some feared it, some were intrigued by it, and some simply wanted to just move along and let it be. The Captain was interested in the sudden formation of the anomaly, but it was also this sudden formation that also bothered him. The sudden appearance of an electromagnetic storm was almost unheard of.

"Sir! The anomaly is moving, it is now on a course heading directly for us." Announced the helmsman.

The Captain's face began to show more signs of worry, he now thought it might be best to just leave this strange cloud of energy alone. He walked closer to the main view screen and stopped next to the young Ensign who piloted the _Minsk_.

"Go to yellow alert." Ordered the Second Officer who was still sitting in his own chair.

After hearing the order from the Commander the Captain turned from the main view screen, adjusted his uniform and sat back down in his chair expecting a rough ride if they had to fly through the cloud.

"Uplink complete with Starfleet, they are receiving this feed live sir. They seem to be just as stunned by its sudden appearance as we are. Admiral Johnson wants us to stay and observe this unusual anomaly." Reported the Science Officer.

"Thank you Lieutenant."

"Sir, it's getting too close. Shields are starting to take light damage, front shields down to 97." Announced the Tactical Officer.

"Evasive maneuver Mr. Lee." Ordered the Commander.

The helmsman started plotting a new course but his controls met with some resistance.

"Evasive maneuvers Ensign!" Again ordered the Commander, this time raising his voice with a slight sound of urgency in it.

"I'm sorry sir, the controls, they're not responding."

"Engineering, this is the Captain, move this ship out of the way of that anomaly!"

There was a brief moment of silence before the Chief Engineer responded from Main Engineering, "I am sorry sir but the controls are not responding down here. Impulse engines just went off line, our warp cores efficiency is down to 73, and the maneuvering thrusters are unresponsive. I believe we can get impulse engines back online, but the electromagnetic radiation has messed up the matter-antimatter injector pulses."

"How do you think it will take to fix?" Asked the Captain.

"Sir the anomaly is almost on top of us." Yelled the science officer who was clearly a bit too excited by what was going on.

"Based on the current state of the engines I would say thirty minutes, fifteen tops if everybody in engineering stopped what they were doing to help out."

"Chief, you have ten minutes. I suggest you do whatever you need and use as many people it will take to get impulse engines back online."

The Chief Engineer replied with a straight forward tone, "Aye Sir." He knew on the other hand that he could not have every single engineer in engineering drop what they were doing to come get the engines back online.

_Captains ask the impossible too often. _The Chief thought to himself, pointing to a few crewmen working in engineering and motioning towards the warp core. The engineers did not need to be told twice, they knew they had new orders.

Back on the bridge the Captain watched the main view screen as bolts of electricity snaked their way out of the cloud in front of them and made contact with the shields, causing the bridge to shake hard, and sending bridge crew members who were standing to the nearest wall.

"Suggestions?" Asked the Captain who was now all out of ideas on how to move the ship out of danger.

"It's an electromagnetic sir, we could use the deflector dish to try and push us away. We would have to figure out the polarity and the frequency opposite of the storm for it to work." Suggested the First Officer who shifted his weight to face the Captain while trying to keep from being forced from his seat by the impacts from the lightning strikes.

"Make it so." Ordered the Captain.

"Lieutenant, how much time do we have until that thing is on top of us?"

"About three minutes at its current velocity." Answered the Science Officer.

The Captain now turning back to face the Commander reached out and grabbed the Commander by his left arm.

"You have two minutes Commander!"

"Yes sir," The Commander said getting up from his seat and stumbled across to the science station joining the Lieutenant. The Commander steadied himself against the wall with his right hand and typed with his left hand.

Striking his COM Badge the Commander opened a channel with engineering, "Chief, I need you to boost as much power as you can to the Deflector Array."

"Sir, I am sorry I can't do that right now. You can access power distribution controls from the engineering station on the bridge."

The Commander pounded his fist again the wall and started walking over to the engineering station. He was thrown to the floor when another surge from the storm out front of the ship struck the bridge causing sparks and explosions all around him. Now crawling on his knees he pulled himself up to the station and stat down in the chair. The lights on the bridge had shorted out with the last strike from the storm. Pushing on the controls the Commander brightened up the backlighting and make the controls more visible. Pushing with fury on the controls he adjusted the alignment of the Deflector Dish and matched the frequency that he and the Science Officer had agreed upon.

"Deflector Dish is ready Captain." Yelled the Commander from the back of the bridge.

"Fire!" Ordered the Captain.

Outside the ship a brilliant red beam shot out from the Deflector Dish and struck the storms center. The two polarities struck each other and caused more bolts of electricity to jump from the cloud and smash into the _Minsk_ tossing the crew with each strike.

The Science Officer pulled himself off the floor and back up to his station, blood running down his forehead. He studied the readings at his station and turned to look at the image on the view screen.

"Sir, it appears to be working."

The Captain watched as the red beam started to push the ship back away from the cloud of wild electricity. He watched with child like intrigue as the beam caused surges of electricity through out the cloud. The Captain again looked more closely, the beam did not appear to look correct to him. The beam emitted from the Deflector Dish appeared to be striking again a solid object with in the cloud. _If this is indeed a storm how could the beam flatten out like that, and if something was in the middle of the storm what is it?_

"Sir, the polarity of the storm has changed! I don't know how that is possible, but we are now being pulled into the storm." Yelled the Science Officer trying to figure how it could possibly change polarity all of the sudden.

"Sir, we have lost connection with Starfleet." Informed the OPS officer who was a bit more composed than the Science Officer.

"Shut down the Main Deflector Dish!"

"Controls are not responding again sir."

The ship began to shake violently as it was pulled closer to the eye of the storm. More bolts of electricity struck the ship, tearing at the ships shields with an almost animal like ferocity. The green and gray cloud began to slowly dissipate and was replaced by a large black and green solid face of never ending metal. A look of shock appeared on the face of the Captain as well as all of the crew members on board the bridge.

"We are the Borg..." Rang out over the entire ships communications system.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_USS Darkhawk , Utopia Panitia, Mars_

The doors opened to reveal the bridge in chaos as crewman, officers, and engineers were working at a frightful pace on all the ships main stations and console. Double checking and triple checking controls and all the major systems was the Starfleet standard. Captains usually disliked all the checking and rechecking due to the extra time it took to finally get underway. Some Captains feared all the checks because to them it showed that the engineers were unsure of the work of the designers, when in reality it was for safety.

After visiting his quarters for some time Captain Kirk now felt more at home, now with the bridge already in full swing he could not wait to get underway.

_Nothing beats a starship,_ Kirk though to himself as he passed a pair engineers working at the emergency transporter pad and console in the back of the bridge. The engineers take their jobs very seriously as have all ship builders through time. _They build them, we play with them, we break them, and they fix them._ It is a cycle that has gone on for centuries and nobody seemed to complain a bit about it.

Kirk soaked up all the new aromas. Everything was new, the carpet, the seats, the plastic covering the walls, it smelled clean, and it smelled wonderful. On some levels he felt like a kid again getting a Christmas present, except this Christmas present came with a cloaking device and quantum torpedoes. Kirk approached his chair from behind. Nobody was standing near it so he decided to take a second and become 'one' with the chair. Closing his eyes he ran his finger tips along the brand new cloth feeling all the bumps in the seat, the perfect stitching, and the smooth metal that ran along side the back of the seat along the side and down to the arm rests where comfort met command. Opening his eyes his journey of the chair was over and now it was time to get busy and get himself acquainted with this wonderful lady.

One of the engineers finally recognized him and called out with a firm and loud voice, "Captain on the bridge."

The entire bridge snapped to attention around Captain Kirk. This was something he was not used to. He looked around the bridge at the faces that were looking back at him in silence. One person said later they heard a pin falling all the way down in engineering.

Reaching the peak of his level of comfort he said with a clean, and casual voice, "As you were."

The bridge erupted into chaos again, with everybody going back to work Kirk went back looking over the command controls on the arms of the chair. On the left hand side of the chair were controls for the three conditions. With one touch Kirk could go from Condition Green to Condition Yellow, know better as 'Yellow Alert' to Condition Red, best know as 'Red Alert'. Secondary functions on the console gave the Captain control over weapons firing. It still took the tactical officer to properly get a lock on to a target, but this made it possible for the Captain to fire at without having to relay an order. The right hand arm rest console had small letters, all twenty six. This was used in sending secret encrypted messengers right from the bridge with out the rest of the bridge officers knowing. It also allowed for text messages to be sent from station to station. With the console being taken up almost entirely by letters, a space bar, and a enter/command key there was not anymore room for anything else on the screen. This arm rest however was equipped with a second page button. The second page displayed an emergency stop button and instant read out of weapons charge, torpedo status and quantity as well as shield percentages represented around a top view of the ship in three different colors; Green 100-85, Yellow 84-65, Red 64-5, and finally a blank representing 5-0.

Once Captain Kirk finished up his review of the arm consoles he looked up to notice a lot of the engineers had already left the bridge, there was now only one engineer at each station showing the senor officers the new advanced features off the ship.

"Captain," A young engineer said walking in front of Kirk as he was sitting in his chair.

"Yes."

"I need you to press all ten of your fingers onto this PADD for me. It will authorize that you and only you can fire weapons from this chair."

"What if I am not on board the ship?"

"Sir, Starfleet regulations prohibit Captains from leading away missions."

"I know the regulations," Kirk said sounding frustrated with the young man, "Hand me the PADD."

The engineer extended Kirk the PADD which he took it in one fast motion to show his frustration with the engineer.

_I have got children telling me what I can and cannot do aboard my own starship. _Kirk thought as he pressed each one of his fingers and both of his thumbs on the PADD to register his identity with the PADD and with the Computer. Kirk handed back the PADD to the engineer who quickly made a few last minute commands to the PADD.

"Thank you Captain, you are now all set to transfer you command codes to Main Computer."

Kirk nodded to the engineer and got up from his chair. Commander Kesloh overheard the conversation and got up from her station to join the Captain. Kirk watched her come over and waited for her to join his side.

"Computer," Kirk called out, waiting for the computer to chime in return, "Recognize Captain Kirk, Jonathan as Commanding Officer of _USS Darkhawk_, Transfer Command Codes, Kirk, Alpha, Tango, 3-1-6."

"Command Codes accepted, Captain Kirk, Commanding Officer, _USS Darkhawk_."

"Computer, Recognize Commander Kesloh, Samantha, First Officer of _USS Darkhawk_. Transfer Command Codes, Kesloh, Beta, Charlie, 5-9-8."

"Command Codes accepted, Commander Kesloh, First Officer, _USS Darkhawk_.

"Now that we have that little bit of business take care of, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Captain Jonathan Kirk, I am as you can see the Commanding Officer onboard this ship. I can see already by the look of the senior staff this is going to be a very good crew."

"Captain, Utopia Panitia reports all Panitia workers have reported back to their respective stations, we are clear to head out." Informed the young OPS Officer.

"Thank you Lieutenant. Commander, do we have all our crew members aboard?"

"Yes sir."

"Good," Kirk said sitting down in his chair, "Helm, take us out, one quarter impulse power."

"Aye sir, one quarter impulse power," Repeated the Ensign, "Thrusters set to full power, docking clamps disengaged, clearing all moorings."

The _Darkhawk'_s main engines began to glow a beautiful blue glow from the back as she began to slowly move out from the moorings, while maneuvering thrusters fires to help stabilize the brand new ship on her way out of the 'dry dock'. The light from the sun reflected beautifully on the post side of the ship as it passed the waving workers and engineers inside the command room of the dry dock.

"Helm, set course for Deep Space 9, Warp 5."

The helmsman plotted the course into the ships computer. He double checked to make sure he had done everything correctly, once he was satisfied with his work he turned around in his chair to face the Captain.

"Course laid in sir."

"Engage."

"Aye sir."

Outside the blue glow from the back of the engines started to glow brighter as the warp field charged up side the warp core. Once the core was full powered to transport the ship at the desired velocity the _Darkhawk_ took off in the blink of an eye leaving only a small splash of light in the distance as they broke the light speed barrier for the first time in this new ship.

"Now that we are underway I must go introduce myself to the rest of the crew, and meet the Chief Engineer. Ms. Kesloh you have the bridge."

"Aye sir."

Kirk got up from his chair and walked quickly to the turbo life in the rear of the bridge next to the emergency transporter pad. The doors slide open and Kirk stood in the turbo lift and watched the crew work until the doors slid closed moments later.

"Engineering."

The single word command had the turbo lift sliding down towards the bellow of the ship. With in seconds Kirk was now several decks below the bridge exiting the turbo lift. Captain Kirk stepped out of the turbo lift and walked to the nearest wall console and pushed it for directions to engineering.

_I should have really taken the halo tour when I had the chance._ Kirk thought cursing himself for not doing it.

Walking through the doors into Main Engineering was just like walking into a ghost town. During shake down cruises ships are normally fitted with just the minimum amount of people it took to run the ship. In the case of the Darkhawk the crew count was just over twenty-five people including the senior staff. Once the ship had docked with DS9 the crew would count would more than double to seventy-five crew members including the senior staff.

Kirk slowly walked around the engine room noting its rather small size. He was used to rather large and elaborate engine rooms with tall towering warp cores. The warp core hummed with the same beautiful sound all Federation warp cores make, and Kirk noted for the size this was actually one of the more powerful compact units available in the fleet. He began to hear talking around the corner and he proceeded to investigate.

Turning the corner in the engine room revealed two engineers, one engineer was clearly young and not his Chief Engineer, the other could fit the bill, he was a bit older than most starfleet active engineers, around his fifties. Kirk was told his man was the best anybody would want as a Chief Engineer. Kirk would just have to get a good look at this mans pips to know if this was indeed the man he thought it was. As the man turned Kirk noticed first off the man's jet black hair with solid gray streaks clearing invading the youth this man tried to keep with his natural hair color.

"Ah, you must be the Captain," The man extended his hand to shake Kirks, "I am Captain Scott McLean, your Chief Engineer."

"Jonathan Kirk." Kirk said grasping the mans hand.

Captain Kirk shook Captain McLean's hand and started to notice the age difference between the two men. McLean was clearly a good fifteen years older than him, with wrinkles that clearly showed the man has seen his days in battle. McLean's clean shaven look took Kirk a bit off guard, he was half expecting a bearded red head by the sound of his name.

"Glad to meet you Captain." McLean said finishing up the hand shake.

"Mr. McLean, this is the first time I have ever met a Chief Engineer at the rank of Captain." Kirk said with an inquisitive tone.

McLean looked a bit shocked and Kirk was quick to pick up on it. He began to think he had insulted the man, but before the could speak the Engineer spoke up again.

"Do you mean you have never heard of the _great_ Captain Montgomery Scott? One of the most famous Starfleet Engineers ever?"

"Yes, Scotty. Of course," Kirk said still caught a bit off guard, "I just didn't know he held the rank of Captain."

Kirk could now feel this conversation had run its course. He started walking around the room checking out a few consoles. Captain McLean watched as his new Commanding Officer inspected the engine room. He could feel the authority that Captain Kirk projected; _It was easy to see why Captain Picard has selected this man to head up the First Fleet in the task force._

Continuing to look at various stations Kirk said, "Join me on the bridge as soon as you get everything under control down here."

"Certainly sir." Replied McLean.

"Thanks Scotty." Kirk said with a smile on is face as he left Main Engineering.

Stepping back into the turbo lift Kirk chuckled to himself about the encounter in the engine room.

"Bridge." Kirk ordered the turbo lift.

_I Cannot believe they placed two Captains on this ship. There is not room enough for two Captains on a Space Station. _Kirk thought to himself as the turbo lift continued to scream up the shaft. Exiting the shaft Commander Kesloh stood up and turned to face Kirk as he entered the bridge.

"Captain, we are getting a priority one encrypted message from the _Enterprise._"

"I will take it in my ready room."

Kirk walked off the bridge into his ready room. This was the first time he had actually seen the ready room, but he did not take the time to admire it, Captain Picard was on the line and he would not leave that man waiting. Clicking the small private console on top of his desk the words _Priority One_ appeared on the screen for a few moments before Captain Picard's image suddenly appeared.

"What can I do for you Captain?" Kirk asked as his end of the transmission started.

"Captain, I hate to be straight forward but you arrival to Deep Space Nine must be delayed. The _USS Minsk_ has gone missing in the Alonious VII system. Starfleet wants an immediate investigate into this matter, and you're the closest ship."

"Captain Picard, I would like to note I do not have a full crew yet."

"I am aware of that," Picard said with a sigh, "But Starfleet feels it is of the up most importance now that the situation in the Alpha Quadrant is a bit...uneasy. I want you to go to the Alonious VII system and see what you can find out. Report to DS9 as soon as you get done, we shall be waiting for you here."

"Yes sir."

"One last thing Captain, I have been ordered to give you full authorization to use the new cloaking device. Starfleet does not want to lose its newest ship on its shake down cruise. Picard out."

The view screen went black, Kirk leaned forward and shut off the console and sat back in his seat, taking in his new orders. Kirk could tell that Picard did not want the _Darkhawk_ to arrive any later than it had to, and this was one of the situations where Starfleet rubbed Picard the wrong way.

Getting up out of his chair Kirk left his ready room and reported on the bridge. Commander Kesloh got up out of the Captain's Chair and took over her station again. Sitting down Kirk adjusted his uniform.

"Helm, set course for Alonious VII, Warp 8."

"Aye sir, Warp 8."

Kirk turned to his senior officers, he could tell they wanted to know what was with the dramatic change in orders.

"We have to look for a lost ship. Starfleet feels that there is a chance there could have been a confrontation," Looking at the Klingon manning the tactical station, "Commander, engage the cloaking device."

"Aye sir."

The Lt. Commander turned and back to his station and worked on his console bringing the cloaking device online. The ship was suddenly over taken by the sound of the cloaking device coming online. It was a much different sound than any of the other cloaking devices in the Alpha Quadrant, it sounded as if a burst of air had been instantly sucked out of the ship as the device came online. With in a matter of seconds the _Darkhawk_ was no longer visible.

"Cloaking device online sir." Informed Commander Kesloh.

"Course laid in sir." Informed the Helmsman.

"Engage."

Sitting in his chair, Captain Kirk looked out the main view screen. He wondered what was going to be waiting for them at Alonious VII when they go there.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_Starfleet Command, San Francisco_

The 'war room' at Starfleet Command had not stopped buzzing since the _USS Minsk_ abruptly ended its transmission of the electromagnetic storm it encountered in the Alonious VII system. Since then the _Minsk _has not responded to further attempts of communication from Starfleet Command. Just buy the look of the busy Starfleet Officers inside the 'war room' one would think that the Federation was about to go back to war.

"Admiral," A Science officer manning a science station inside the 'war room' said, instantly getting the Admiral's attention.

"Yes Captain, what is it?"

"Sir, we have analyzed all the information the _Minsk _sent use on the electromagnetic anomaly they encountered. Based on its sudden appearance and the data retrieved by the _Minks' _computers we can say for sure that this was not a natural occurrence."

"What are you trying to tell me Captain? Somebody created this anomaly?"

"Sir, I am not trying to imply anything at this moment. I am just reporting on the data we have analyzed. There is one thing that bothers me sir. The energy readings form the _Minsk _shows that the electromagnetic storms energy output was not strong enough to destroy or even heavily damage the _Minsk_ if she did indeed venture into the storm."

"What _would_ her condition be is she had moved into the storm?" Asked the Admiral with a very deep interest in the conversation.

"Well sir," The Captain took a moment to look over his data and make a clear educated assessment, "A Sabre Class Starship, flying into a storm reported by the _Minsk_ would have minor hull damage, maybe a complete loss of shields. Short and Long Range Sensors, and communication should still be online. The engines should also still be online and running. In all respects I cannot find a reason why the _Minsk_ is missing, she should still be space worthy."

The Admiral took in the information and stroked his chin with his left hand thinking about what to do next. _Why have we not heard back from the Minsk then? _It was a question that kept running around the Admiral's mind and no answers dawned on him at all. It did not make sense to him, ships just don't disappear.

A young Ensign came up to the Admiral and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. The Admiral quickly turned and gave the young Ensign an un-welcomed expression that made even the senior science officer cringe.

"Ensign," The Admiral paused for effect, "Do I have to remind you that tapping a superior officer on the shoulder is _not_ an appropriate way to his attention?

The Ensign was now starting to sweat under the heavy words of the Admiral. He remembered just last week the Admiral did not mind the tapping, he actually told him he would rather feel the tapping then be verbally interrupted. Confusion was the life of a Admiral's personal assistant.

Still speechless the Admiral was now clearly becoming very impatient with the young Ensign. Normally the six foot nine inch Admiral did not tower over the six foot three inch Ensign, but at this very moment the Admiral looked a good ten feet tall.

"Well Ensign, you bothered me for a reason, _what is it_?"

"Sorry sir, We just received word from Captain Picard that he has sent Captain Kirk to investigate the _Minks' _disappearance.

"Captain Kirk?"

"Yes sir. He is the Captain of the _USS Darkhawk_. He just left Utopia Panitia a few hours ago heading for Deep Space 9."

"Ah yes, Captain Kirk. Thank you Ensign." The Admiral said clearly not knowing who this Captain Kirk was.

Walking down to the ship deployment section of the 'war room' the Admiral spotted two ships still in Earth's orbit. The Captains' on board those ships were close friends of the Admirals, both owed him favors. He decided he would send those two ships after the _Minsk_ to relieve Captain Kirk. The Admiral did not trust Captains he did not know personally and to top it off he did not have a particular liking for Captain Picard, the Admiral feels he is bit of a 'hot shot' of a Captain.

The Ensign was now back at the Admiral's side. He wanted to make up for the mistake he made just moments ago.

"Shall I contact the Captains of those ships and have them report to Alonious VII?"

"What rank are you?" Asked the Admiral with out looking at the Ensign.

"Sir?"

"It is a simple question, what-_rank_-are-you?" The Admiral repeated slowly.

The Ensign was starting to sweat again. He did not understand why the Admiral was asking, he could easily see his rank on the Ensigns' collar.

"Sir, I am an Ensign."

"Not for long if you keep tapping me and taking the words out of my mouth," The Admiral peered down on the you Ensign as he adjusted his collar. "Now listen carefully Ensign. I want you to contact Captain Young of the _USS Trident_, and Captain Smith of the _USS Lion Heart_ and have both ship leave Earth with in the hour and head directly to Alonious VII at Maximum Warp."

Again the Admiral left the Ensign standing alone shaking in his boots. It was something the Admiral was rather well known for doing. If he was nice to his personal assistance then it was a good indication that he did not like them.

"Get moving CADET!"

The Ensign ran out of the room at nearly transwarp speeds towards the large fleet communications room, where he would contact the _USS Trident _and the _USS Lion Heart_. _They would be moving towards Alonious VII sooner than when the Admiral wanted_. Thought the Ensign who was now trying harder to please the Admiral.

The main screen in a private communications room came to life as the Ensign hailed both the _USS Trident _and the _USS Lion Heart_. As soon as both men connected to the conversation the Ensign started to inform them of their new mission.

"Captains, I have been ordered by Admiral Henderson to send you on a very important mission."


	5. Chapter 5

1**Chapter 5**

_USS Darkhawk, Alonious VII System_

_Captain's Log: We are now arriving in the Alonious VII System, the last known position of the USS Minsk. Since speaking with Captain Picard I have a growing sense of dread about what might be lurking in the shadows of space. I have received a message that Starfleet has sent two more ships to Alonious VII, most likely to relieve us so we can proceed to DS9. However they wont arrive for another few hours. I have now gotten the chance to get to know my crew a little bit better while on the way to Alonious VII. I can see by their service records this is going to be a good, hard working crew. A perfect fit for this ship._

On the main view screen Alonious VII came into view, the main planet in the system, Alonious Prime, was the only planet in the system to sustain life. It was a large M class planet, which looked a lot like Earth in a lot of different ways. Since Alonious Prime is a pre-warp civilization near the Romulan Boarder Starfleet set up a single military and observation outpost on Alonious Prime's main continent. The outpost itself is another mystery, Starfleet lost contact with them a week before they sent the _USS Minsk _to investigate.

"Sir, we have arrived at the _Minsks'_ last know location." Informed Ensign Anderson from behind the helm station.

"Captain, I am picking up the warp signature of the _Minsk_."

Kirk stood up and began to walk over to the young Vulcan's science station. Kirk had a fondness for Vulcans, they are intelligent, and noble people who have a dark side to them. Kirk always found that the dark side to Vulcans was rather intriguing, Lieutenant Valelle was no exception. There was a raging animal below the calm emotionless exterior she showed.

_She is a ball of sexual energy just waiting to be released, _Kirk thought as he stood over Lieutenant Valelle

"Captain, I have plotted a course into the computer to follow the _Minsks' _neutrino emissions."

"Very good Lieutenant," Kirk said turning to face the helm, "Mr. Anderson please engage engines to follow the trail Ms. Valelle has plotted for us, full impulse power."

"Aye sir, full impulse power."

Ensign Peter Anderson was the youngest of the bridge crew, at twenty years old. Although he is Fresh out of the Academy, he was one of the best pilots the Academy had seen in years. Kirk had to admit his young appearance was shocking at first, but it was easy to tell this kid was going to be all right. He carried himself like a veteran, and was far more mature for his age than anybody would suspect. He was an excellent choice to pilot the _Darkhawk._

Kirk had thought to call Captain McLean to the bridge to man the empty engineering station on the bridge, but deiced other wise due to the lack of crew currently aboard.

"Captain," Lieutenant Valelle called out, "I have found the _Minsk_."

Kirk turned back to his science officer.

"She is adrift, one thousand meters off our starboard side."

"Life signs?" Kirk asked.

Lieutenant Valelle pushed a few buttons on her console looking into the Captain question. When she did not get the results she wanted Valelle repeated the sequence.

"Interesting." She said to herself.

"What is it Lieutenant?"

"Sir, the _Minsk_ is surrounded by a thick cloud of radiation of unknown origin. My scans cannot penetrate it."

"Is the radiation dangerous?"

"No sir. It is just low levels of radiation; it is only effecting their communications, and blocking our scans. Our own internal environmental shields will keep us safe if you wish to maintain the cloak."

"Mr. Anderson, bring us into transporter range of the _Minsk._"

"Aye sir."

The _Darkhawk _turned head on with the _Minsk. _Traveling at full impulse power the distance between the two ships was quickly closed.

"Mr. Ka'Vork, drop the cloak, we want to let them know we are here. Open a channel, maybe we can get through to them at this range with audio only."

"Aye sir."

The light levels on the bridge rose back to standard levels as main systems started to return to full power. The ships cloak disengaged with the same loud sound as it had before, with in seconds the ship was clearly becoming visible again.

As the _Darkhawk_ was just coming back into the visible range the _Minsk_ opened fire on the decloaking ship.

"Sir, they are firing!" Yelled Lt. Commander Ka'Vork.

Kirk wasted no time giving orders as he saw the weapons fire coming from the _Minsk_, "Evasive maneuvers, yellow alert."

The bridge shook as a single phaser blast made it way past the ships shields smashing against the _Darkhawk's _ablative armor.

"Communication systems have been severely damaged.

Kirk spun his chair to face Lt. Commander Ka'Vork who was bracing himself as impacts from photon torpedoes shook the ship.

"Report."

"Communications are down, shields down to 85, and the Minsk is _still _firing."

_Their sensors must not be working properly. _Kirk thought spinning back around to face the main view screen.

"Red Alert, Commander Ka'Vork target main weapons, and shields. Mr. Anderson, bring us around to attack their aft section."

All stations were hard at work trying to defuse this possibly deadly situation. There is one thing Starfleet hates more than losing a ship; losing a shit to friendly fire. As the _Darkhawk _banked sharply to get around the _Minsk_ she took one last shot to her rear shields before out maneuvering the _Minsk._

"Sir, I am not getting any response from remote quarry. They must have locked out their main computer."

The _Darkhawk_ was now directly behind the _Minsk _in a perfect attack position.

"Mr. Anderson, match speed to target. Commander Ka'Vork fire phasers." Kirk ordered.

The _Darkhawk's _top phaser array fired two strong shots striking the _Minsk_ on it's main saucer section, causing the ship to take more aggressive evasive mangroves.

"Minor damage to the Minsk sir."

"We need to disable them and quickly Captain." Informed Commander Kesloh from her station across the bridge.

"Agreed," Kirk said pausing to think of a new plan of attack, "Commander prepare pulse cannons and quantum torpedoes."

"Weapons ready sir."

"Fire Quantum Torpedoes."

"Firing." Lt. Commander said pushing down on the firing command.

Two bright white and blue torpedoes burst out of the front of the _Darkhawk _at warp speed on a direct course for the _Minsk._ Both torpedoes find their mark on the forward section of the Saber class vessel, exploding in two brilliant flashes of white light.

"Direct hit Captain. The Minsk's shields are down." Informed Lt. Commander Ka'Vork.

The Saber class vessel, causing minor damage to the front deflector shields, again fired upon staying behind the Minsk the Darkhawk.

Kirk stood up to begin issuing orders when he was overcome by a sense of dizziness. He quickly flopped back down in his chair to regain his composure. He then heard it again, voices, the voices that haunt his dreams. The voices of the Borg. He could hear the orders being give to the crew of the _Minsk _to continue the attack on the _Darkhawk_.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Asked Commander Kesloh as she came over to Kirks said to give him aid if he needed it.

"I can hear them." Kirk whispered.

Standing up Kirk quickly adjusted his uniform, "Commander, destroy that ship!"

"Sir!"

"That ship has been assimilated by the Borg."

"Captain," Commander Ka'Vork said trying not to be defiant, "There is no evidence of that."

Commander Kesloh turned to Lt. Commander Ka'Vork with a confused look on her face. She did not know what to do; trust her gut feeling or trust her Captain whom wanted to destroy another Federation Starship.

"Electromagnetic storm just appeared off our port side sir. It seems to be heading right for us."

Kirk quickly forgot about the _Minsk_ and began issuing orders for Ensign Anderson to pilot the ship away from the storm. As the _Darkhawk_ moved away from the storm she had moved right into the phaser and photon torpedo range of the _Minsk._

_They have boxed us in._

"Commander, fire."

This time there was no hesitation, the Klingon fired defensively just trying to disable the weapons systems on the _Minsk_. Two more shots fired from the forward facing phaser array, this time the impacts were not met with damage but a bright green glow upon each impact.

"The Minsk has adapted to our weapons." Informed Commander Ka'Vork.

"Modulate the phaser frequencies and torpedo yields. Commander, fire when ready; and Commander, air carefully we only have a limited number of torpedoes." Kirk said looking directly at the Klingon.

Lt. Commander Ka'Vork was preparing the new frequencies on the weapons when Lieutenant Valelle stood up and announced with an uncharacteristic shock.

"Borg Cube decloaking Captain!"

All eyes turned to the main viewer as the large cube decloaked from the electromagnetic storm. Kirk stood frozen looking at the massive cube in front oh him. The cube he now saw was much larger than any he remembered seeing while connected to the collective. Kirk now could hear commands coming from inside the cube; he heard orders being issued from with in the cube and the _Minsk. _

Ensign Anderson instinctively began evasive mangroves trying to keep from being hit from the _Minsk_, and now the Borg Cube. Banking hard the _Darkhawk_ was again struck in the rear, this time by a high intensity-cutting beam from the Borg Cube.

"First things first, Mr. Ka'Vork destroy the Minsk. Bring us around for a clean shot Mr. Anderson."

After moments of touch and go dog fighting Ensign Anderson was able to bring the _Darkhawk_ directly behind the _Minsk_, he again quickly maneuvered the nimble ship into a perfect firing position for Lt. Commander Ka'Vork. Ka'Vork took no time spotting his chance; he fired a full spread of Quantum Torpedoes, matched with all six pulse cannons firing directly at the main hull section of the _Minsk._ The damage done to the _Minsk_ was quick and deadly. Upon impact of the Quantum Torpedoes, the ship began to spiral out of control. Once the pulse cannons impacted against the ships starboard warp nacelles, her lights began to flicker.

"I am getting scans of heavy damage to the Minsk, it looks like her warp core is going to breach." Reported Ka'Vork while he looked over his sensor readings.

Just as he finished his sentence the _Minsk_ exploded directly in front of the _Darkhawk_ sending large and small debris alike smashing into her shields.

"We need to warn the fleet of the Borg's presence." Ordered Commander Kesloh.

Kirk nodded in agreement, "Mr. Ka'Vork, prepare to cloak the ship. Mr. Anderson, keep us alive."

"Aye sir, I will do my best." replied the young pilot.

Ensign Anderson was piloting the ship like a twenty-year veteran. He brought the nimble _Darkhawk_ racing down the front face of the Borg Cube, leaving anti-matter mines in his wake. As the mines exploded the cube fired all its cutting beams at the _Darkhawk_ in a calculated attempt to damage the little ship. Ensign Anderson was dodging the beams as best as he could, but it was a matter of time before the Borg were finally able to hit their mark. Ensign Anderson flew the ship directly into the path of a high intensity-cutting beam. The beam smashed into the top of the bridge causing a massive explosion to occur inside the bridge itself, sending most of the bridge crew to the floor.

Lieutenant Valelle pulled herself up from off the floor. She was amazed that the _Darkhawk_ was still heading away from the cube at full impulse power.

"Sir, the Cube has started a pursuit course."

Getting to his feet Kirk sat back down in his chair and listened to the report from Lt. Valelle.

"Now Mr. Ka'Vork, engage the cloak. Ensign continued evasive maneuvers."

The _Darkhawk_ again banked sharply as the Federation cloaking device came to life. While the cloaking device was bending the light around the _Darkhawk_ the Borg Cube fired wildly in an effort to destroy the ship before it cloaked. The cube was only slightly successful, a single cutting beam slammed into the starboard nacelle, causing the ship to phase in and out of cloak for a second before it fully disappeared.

On The Bridge, sparks flew out from the engineering station. The last hit caused the lights to flicker before going to the standard low settings once the cloak was engaged.

"Report!" Yelled Kirk.

Lt. Commander Ka'Vork was first to respond, "Hull integrity done to 70, shields are down to 30 in the front, 5 in the aft sections. Phasers, cannon, and torpedo bays still online sir."

"Sir, long range sensors are offline, communications are down." Reported Lieutenant Valelle.

"Captain Kirk to Captain McLean." Kirk heard over his COM Badge.

"Go ahead Chief."

Warp engines are down; the starboard nacelle has been heavily damaged. I had to transfer power from the port side nacelle to compensate. The best we can do right now is one quarter impulse power."

Kirk stayed in his seat, looking around at the wires, and optical cable hanging out from the roof of the bridge. Several stations were offline, and it appeared the emergency transporter system was also offline.

"Ms. Valelle, please check out the emergency powers status."

_This is not how I would have imaged our shake down cruise was going to go,_ Kirk thought to himself, waiting for the report to come back from the young Vulcan.

"Emergency power is still available." She finally replied.

"Good," Kirk said standing up form his chair. He adjusted his jacket and looked around to each station. Some stations were blacked out from damage during the engagement; most of the bridge stations were still online. Hanging from the top of the bridge was optical cables, wires, and tubes that had broken through the panels above several stations.

"Suggestions?" Kirk finally asked after he looked over the damage done to the ship.

A moment of silence past and it became clear to him that even his senior staff did not have an idea of how to escape the situation.

"I have an idea Captain," Valelle finally said breaking the silence, "Alonious Prime is a pre-warp civilization, that mean more than likely Starfleet should have an observation post on the planet."

The idea had sound logic and followed Starfleet's ever-growing fascination with pre-warp civilizations. Kirk himself could never understand the ideas behind sneaking around and spying on a planet that had never reached the heavens. It fueled UFO stories and witch hunts on these underdeveloped planets. More often than not it caused problems where no problems had originally existed.

"Where is the cube right now?" Kirk asked.

Valelle turned to look at the sensor read outs on her station's console. With in seconds she had answer for her captain, "Sir, they are performing heavy anti-cloak scans approx 2,000 meters off our starboard side. They are traveling only at 1/8th impulse power." Valelle reported.

"They are being thorough," Kirk, whispered to himself, "Ensign lay in a course for Alonious Prime. Place us in a standard orbit once we reach the planet. Ms. Valelle, locate the outpost. We need to use it's long range communications to contact Captain Picard and let him know what are situation is like."

"Aye sir, course laid in."

Kirk stood up form his chair and walked to the back of the bridge. All eyes were on him as he stopped just before the turbo lift doors, "Commander Ka'Vork your with me, Commander Kesloh you have the bridge."

"Aye sir." Kesloh replied taking the Captain's chair.

Kirk stepped into the turbo lift followed quickly by Lt. Commander Ka'Vork. The two men stood at opposite side of the turbo lift and waited for the doors to close.

"Commander, we need to get this ship battle worthy again." Kirk said as the turbo lift doors closed.

Ka'Vork nodded his head being rather quiet for a Klingon in a battle situation. Kirk could feel the Klingon's feeling of failure in the battle Kirk felt it as well.

"Engineering." Kirk ordered the turbo lift.

-25-


End file.
